Hawkwind legend set to change the cancer world for millions with new release...

Cover Artwork: "The cover was painted by friend and commercial artist Phil Bestford” who sadly died on April 22nd 2008 at the age of 40 after battling brain tumours for 17 years.

Despite his illness he continued to paint and teach right till the very end, never failing to inspire all he met with his enthusiasm for life.

It has been kindly loaned by his brother Mark.

PERFORMERS:

Huw Lloyd-Langton – VOCALS/GUITARS

Richard Gillespie – BASS

Volker Von Hoff – DRUMS/PERCUSION

With thanks to Gabrielle Hass for her input, ideas & hard work and Paul Smith who was put under extreme pressure & tight deadlines but still smiled and produced great work!

KILLING Cancer is a Registered Charity. Number: 1109926

Official press release, August 2009:

Wild man of rock and former Hawkwind frontman, Huw Lloyd Langton, believes that his latest single release, ‘PDT - Photodynamic Therapy’, will help change the cancer and life chances of millions of people around the world.

To be released Monday 19th October by Cherry Red Records as a global digital down-load on the net, the song, co-written with wife Marion, is one of the cornerstones of a campaign to fund the global development of a new style of cancer treatment. “It’s not your usual charity record. I don’t think there has ever been anything so specific written about cancer, and certainly nothing that can – and will – have such a dramatic impact in changing the way cancer patients are treated in the future,” says Huw. “I am incredibly proud of it.”

Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) kills cancers by starving the cells of oxygen, and uses light to activate a chlorophyll-like drug. The song’s lyric tells the story of a man dying of cancer, wanting and knowing that PDT is his best chance of defeating his killer disease. PDT is a single, one-off treatment cancer treatment where tumours are killed within minutes. It is a treatment that can be repeated without any toxic damage to the body, and few sides effects, compared to radiotherapy and chemotherapy. PDT can also be an alternative to surgery.

PDT is available now for skin, head and neck, mouth, oesophageal and some lung cancers on the NHS now. But the potential for PDT to successfully treat other cancers and conditions means that £50m has to be raised to fund the trials. Breast, cervical, prostate, bile duct, brain, throat, bladder and stomach cancers are on the target list. So is PDT for arterial disease and MRSA. “Everyone who knows me thinks of my hell-raising days of Hawkwind. I’ve lived life to the full, and Marion and I have survived the ups and downs of the rock music world since we met in 1967. I thought I was invincible until Legionnaires Disease smacked me down when I was touring with Hawkwind over Christmas 2001. “I thought I was finished. And friends and family around me were almost dropping like flies from cancer. It wasn’t the cancer that was destroying them, but the treatment. And I couldn’t see any way back,” he says.

It was Marion who found out about Photodynamic Therapy (PDT), and the journey of discovery since has changed their lives. Marion was researching a cancer answer for a friend. All the other options seemed so dire, and yet here was an apparent answer that was a one-off treatment, it didn’t leave the patient feeling desperately ill, and wasn’t going to involve surgery. Huw and Marion were considering an offer to re-record some of Huw’s best known tracks. Huw says “It didn’t seem the right thing to do. I would have felt cheap – an easy way out – to simply re-hash what I had done before. You feel you HAVE to do something different to the vocal when, in all honesty, you still loved the original.”

It was meeting patients treated with this ‘magic’ therapy that, Huw says, ‘gave me back a direction and a purpose for recording and performing again. I’m not 16 all over again, but the sense of rebellion and fighting remains. But the focus is different these days.

“Marion and I looked at this guy who was supposed to have died years ago. Standing either side were two others who had been destined for the surgeon’s knife and a crap life ahead. Nothing to look forward to, other than living as a shadow.” Marion takes up the story. “Huw was looking at mirrors of his life. When the Legionnaires was at its worst, he had no hope and didn’t plan even about the next hour. Here we were looking at three men who had been looking down the barrel of a similar gun.

“But here they were, smiling, laughing and reflecting on their own personal miracles,” she adds. The lyrics didn’t take long to flow and, Huw and Marion put in calls to drummer Volker Von Hoff (left - from Lloyd-Langton Group - LLG) and, right, bassist Richard Gillespie (senior analyst in the City for a top French Bank).

The Photodynamic Therapy track will also be featured on the album “Hard Graft” that was finished in July 2009. It is a brilliant portrayal of Huw’s mastery of guitar with excellent musicianship from Volker and Richard. The songs are varied and haunting!

Richard Gillespie suggested running an animation competition with a 2-minute edit of the PDT track, getting computer animation students in colleges and universities round the UK all creating their own interpretation of the track. Within weeks 20 student groups had entered, and Marion thinks the total number will be a lot higher. The closing date is 1st March 2010 with the judging panel including TV and radio presenter, Matthew Wright, Kris Tait, Steve Ibsen (Kitty Cat) and Michael Poole, Executive Producer of Arts & Entertainment at the BBC. The album will be released Spring 2010 together with the winning 2-minute animated DVD.

The KILLING Cancer charity is promoting the use of PDT in hospitals around the world, and also launching the campaign to get public funds to pay for the new cancer trials. The charity’s task is to reach out to people of all ages, making them aware that PDT is a non-surgical treatment route for some patients now. 50 million patient leaflets are being be distributed via retailers and GP surgeries. Many top celebrities are involved in the campaign, including Chris Tarrant, Sir David Frost, Sir Alex Ferguson, Ronnie O’Sullivan and many more.

Says David Longman, Director of the charity: “The PDT story is one of injustice. Too few patients are able to get PDT, and the major drug companies don’t seem bothered to get involved and fund the development of this incredible science. Huw, Marion, Volker and Richard have done something stunning.

“We have to reach out to men, women and children around the world, letting them know more about PDT. The record, the competition and the media coverage really will help us to change the cancer treatment world for millions – maybe billions of people.

“This campaign is all about a cancer patient today, tomorrow and next week. Together with all the other activities from our launch campaign in September this year, we are absolutely going to change the lives of so many people.”

Here's a PDF that you can download, print and/or pass on, in any way that you see fit: huw killing cancer.pdf (Photo credit for PDF flyer: John Chase)